by Skye Grace
“I just don’t understand, I mean, growing up and even now! Jacksen made, makes me melt. And Rowan was the one who loved Jameson. Not me. I just don’t, I, ugh. Do you understand how weird that is?”
“Uh, yes, I think so, considering we’ve discussed this before, for years, ad nauseum.” Lacie rolls her eyes in disgust, and takes a longer sip of her drink.
“How could I have done that to Rowan? She comes to visit me in New York and I screw the one guy she always wanted? I just leave her in the dust for something that lasts a week? My best friend! Ignore her, totally, for a guy that uses me up and spits me out!”
“It’s water under the bridge, girl, just breathe.”
“Well I’m the attention whore under the bridge! What, I need attention that badly? That I’d sleep with my best friend’s dream guy, ruin our friendship, just for a little attention from someone famous?”
“Aura, you know you really liked Jameson. You never could have predicted the chemistry you two had when you met. What Rowan felt for him was just a schoolgirl crush, but the way you felt for him was, well, you thought it was real at the time, anyway. It’s like you were drawn to him and nothing could pull you away. You had just broken up with what’s his face in time to move to the city and you were just, like I said, possessed.”
She can’t remember this Whit’s cousin guy to save her life, but knows from the pangs in her chest earlier that her feelings for Jameson were real. “I’m the biggest slag I’ve ever met,” she whispers, How could you? She seethes to herself, the self that remembers all of this, you insecure, inconsiderate…
“We discussed this – you could have gone about it a much, um, more discreet way, but you didn’t! What can you do in retrospect? Nothing! I mean come on, what are the odds you meet the star of your favorite show on a rooftop in New York? I mean that’s practically the start of every fangirl’s fantasy, and that is exactly what you were and apparently still are! We could tell, we could feel your chemistry, that’s why we didn’t stay mad at you forever. It wasn’t your fault that Rowan liked him too. Just like it wasn’t your fault that Jameson fell for Gabby,” Lacie explains, still unsure why she even needs to after all this time. How could Aura have possibly forgotten? It must just all be a plea for attention, that, or she’d taken something that was a little stronger than Advil.
“You just went about it wrong, and you lost a good friend. And it was totally screwed at the time and now, it’s all in the past.”
“But why this! Why to her? This happened with the wrong brother… I mean co-star. The wrong guy! Why couldn’t I have met Jacksen that night, on that rooftop? Why did it have to be Jameson?”
“Aura, have you ever heard that everything happens for a reason?” Lacie asks sincerely, looking on as Aura makes loud, obnoxious faux gagging noises and pretends to throw up.
“Well, sometimes it is bullshit, yes! But in this case, it did happen for a reason because all the dumb crap you’ve done up until now has lead you here. Exactly where you want to be. I don’t think any of it’s an accident.”
The next morning, Alexis and Taylor show up up bright and early after pulling an all nighter on set for the filming of their show’s season finale. Their Starbucks practically flies from their noses as they spot Aura furiously swimming laps in the pool.
“I think you’re a little old to start training for the Olympics, Aur,” Taylor calls down to her as she pops her head up from the water.
“Says you, Taylor!” she shouts and continues swimming. They’re growing genuinely concerned for her well-being now and go down to meet her.
“Stop!” Alexis demands, “Stop swimming! Inhale, exhale! Now tell me what going on. Did you sleep?”
Aura crawls out of the pool and paces poolside in her silver bikini. “You know, I tried, I even took one of those melatonin things in the bathroom and all it did was make me a draggy zombie that paced the halls a lot slower than before. When it wore off I could finally do something more active so I went swimming, had to swim until Mark was at the gym. Is it ten yet? I think Mark said he’d be there at ten and we can spar, burn off some of this nervous energy.”
“Jesus,” Alexis exhales.
“I thought you were past the club drugs and molly experiments of your early 20’s. Was I wrong?” Taylor laughs.
“I didn’t go anywhere last night except maybe the froyo place down the hill, or do any drugs except for that natural, clearly not strong enough mela-thing!”
“She’s just nervous about the audition she had yesterday,” Alexis leans into Taylor and whispers.
“Are you kidding? The Protectors? I bet they’re shitting bricks that she even wants in,” he says in response, incredulous.
“Yeah, but she’s too deep in this thing to see that,” Alexis adds, forgetting Aura’s super hearing, who fumes back to the main house.
“I’ll just run laps around the gym until Mark gets there, I’m not gonna sit here and listen to your crap.”
Mark is in full pads and appreciating the chest guard as Aura relentlessly pounds him with jabs and uppercuts to the body. She grins as she perfects her sweep, knocking him off balance and he lands flat on his back with a huff. She begins her ground and pound assault with a flurry of elbows and punches to his jaw. He taps the mat since he wasn’t planning on fighting back this afternoon, “Dammit Aur, what has gotten into you today?”
“Just nerves. Man, now I get why I keep you around. You’re a great stress reliever, Mark,” she laughs.
He rolls his eyes and she helps him up. He retreats to his office to slug down a Red Bull while she removes a glove and takes a few small sips of water, then continues to prance across the mats, feeling light as a butterfly, ready to sting like a bee.
He comes back and instructs her to practice her hooks which she does, but quickly gets bored and tries out her Superman, pretending to ready a kick and then instead surprise clocking him, again in the jaw, and he groans.
“Getting bored of kicking my ass, Princess? Because it looks like we’ve got a volunteer for a stand in,” Mark smirks.
Aura whips around and blinks rapidly, convincing herself that it actually is Jacksen, standing there in black warm-ups with a gym bag under his arm and an infectious smile on his face.
She drops her other glove and suddenly realizes, his eyes on her, that she’s wearing only a pink sports bra and cropped leggings. She feels a little exposed but the glint in his eyes tells her he’s less than unoffended.
“Jacksen? What are you doing here?”
“Oh just had the day off, felt like getting a workout in.”
Her mouth pops open and she has to force herself to close it. Jacksen laughs. “An old friend may have informed me of your whereabouts. I swear, I’m not a stalker, I just…”
Aura’d seen Alexis take a call just as she ran out of the house, but she hadn’t even guessed it could possibly be Jacksen calling her.
He takes a step towards her and he’s so handsome, well, with that and the workout and the lack of sleep, she becomes so light headed that she has to take a step back just to catch herself. She slips on mat sweat that she at least knows is her own, or possibly Mark’s, and nearly falls on her ass.
Jacksen reaches out a hand to catch her, “I just wanted to talk to you, before your agent calls.”
“She’s gonna be calling me, today?”
“Well I would hope so. The execs said they’d be calling her, right about now. But I wanted to be the first to tell you.”
“Again, not in your job descrip- wait. Tell me what?”
He takes another step, closing the gap between them, and outstretches his hand, “Aura Lidell, I would like to formally welcome you the Protectors Coven. We talked it over, and we all agree, there’s no one we’d want to play Bianca but you. Welcome to the family.”
She just stares at his hand, and then back up at his green eyes, in shock. She knew she had it in the bag, didn’t she? But now... Just, shock.
“I got the part?” she whis
pers.
“Yes, Aura! Yes! You accept?”
Brain, POP! Voice, SCREECH! SQUEAL!
Aura screams and handshake be damned, she jumps up, spontaneously wrapping her legs around Jacksen’s hips. He’s a little surprised, but has enough sense to grab her butt, just to keep her from falling, of course.
“Is that a yes?” He laughs, spinning her around to keep himself from getting lightheaded. The tingling he’d chalked up to nerves yesterday is quickly permeating him and all sense of reason he has left.
She nods vigorously and a giggle escapes.
“Tell me you feel that?” he whispers hot in her ear and her eyes flash to his, full of fire and ice. The look makes him doubt himself, if just for a second.
“This?” she asks, touching her palm to the smooth skin of his neck and the electric energy pulses there, as well. He exhales and a shiver runs down his spine. He opens his mouth to respond but is interrupted by the rough throat clearing of someone behind them.
She hops down, her Jacksen trance broken momentarily, and she blushes and apologizes to her coach.
“Mark, I’m sorry! This is my, um, I guess, new co-star, Jacksen.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Jacksen outstretches his hand.
“You too man,” Mark grins and gestures to Aura, “Although this one has been known to wear t-shirts with your face on ‘em to workouts so I feel like I know ya.”
Her face flushes a magenta magma and she considers crawling into a corner to die or turning to run and never look back, but Jacksen laughs and casually responds, “I’m a fan of hers, too.”
“So, are you gonna take my place or what? Maybe you two can spar for a while, give me a break?”
“Mark, he didn’t come to-”
“It’s been a minute,” Jacksen chuckles, holding up his gym bag, “But I did bring gloves. If that’s okay with you, Aura?”
“More than okay,” she nods as excitement blooms in her solar plexus.
“Remember to block faces, you’re both too pretty not to!” Mark adds as he walks back to his office, stripping off his protective gear as he goes.
She shimmies her pink boxing gloves back on, biting her lip to keep from smiling as Jacksen stretches and asks, “I’m not gonna need a mouthguard, am I?”
“No, I’ll take it easy on you,” she smirks, and pops into her fight stance, knees bent and gloves protecting her face, just in case he tries something. She reaches out a right cross and her glove barely grazes his sandy, stubble lined jaw to show just how gentle she can be.
He attempts some slow jabs to her chin which of course, she blocks, and then he administers a couple kicks to her side which she can describe only as ‘cute.’ He grimaces slightly as his shin hits her hipbone and she is again thankful for what extra padding she has acquired.
She begins an onslaught of hooks and uppercuts to his chin and stomach, one of which he fails to block and she gets him right in the gut. Instead of groaning, he returns the favor with a swift seven kick to her abdomen, which she barely blocks in time. She goes in for a clinch as an excuse to take him down. Being that close to him doesn’t hurt either, and he smells amazing. But he gets her game and the jig is up when her right leg is suddenly kicked out from under her and she does indeed fall on her ass this time, landing with a thud and a kind hand under the back of her head to soften the blow.
Jacksen completes the mount, each knee on either side of her hips. Her gloves fly up to protect her face, on auto pilot, and keeps them there a few seconds, blood pounding in her ears, until she peeks through her gloves and realizes she won’t be needing them. His gloves press against hers until her arms are pinned gently above her head. There’s a fan blowing right on her, but the look he gives raises her internal temp to some dangerously high level. He moves his face closer to hers and she licks her lips until his dart away from hers suddenly, brushing warm against her ear instead.
“This worked once today already so I’ll try my luck,” he says softly, “Please tell me you’re free tonight.”
He leans back up to look at her and the pressure on her wrists makes her hands go numb. The rest of her follows suit. Her brain can’t compute either so she just stares.
“If you have plans, it’s okay, I can call whoever. Beg them to reschedule. I can be quite persuasive, you know.” He shines his megawatt smile, glaring, sharp incisors and all, the grin that first hooked her that first episode, and she slips slowly out of consciousness.
“Aura? Aura, you okay?” She feels his fingers on her face, then moving through her hair. His weight shifting off of her and the delicate splashing of water on her face.
Her eyes flutter, open and close. It’s too bright and for a second she thinks it’s the sun coming in from the windows but it’s still an overcast smogstorm morning. She realizes the light is surrounding Jacksen and that he’s where it’s glowing from, he’s the source.
Her eyes adjust, welcoming the warmth that he emits and she blinks and whispers, “What should I wear?”
Chapter Twelve
A few hours after the gym, Aura’s buzzing around the house a million miles an hour. An array of sweaters, jackets, skirts, even a vest or two, have somehow escaped the second story, made their way down the stairs, and are now strewn around the living room. The perfect date outfit is all but picked out, now for just the right thing to top it off. A tiny cardigan flies past Alexis and she catches it midair.
“I can’t believe Jacksen asked you out and you passed out! Did playing the whole damsel in distress thing really work? I may have to-”
“I’m not playing damsel! I’m not playing anyone, and I’m not some girl crushing on a boy this time, either. More like a woman, falling for a man, a real-”
Ding! Doorbell rings. We have a doorbell?
“A real man that actually comes to pick you up and likes vaginas? How did you get so lucky?” teases Alexis.
Aura fights a genuine urge to slap her and conveniently has to run upstairs to grab her purse so Alexis can answer the door. She takes a last chance to check her reflection and she presses her hand to the mirror. It’s still solid, allowing herself to believe her sanity is also intact. She almost calmly reapplies her red lipstick, adjusting the red bandana tied up in her hair styled long, with big barrel curls and a thick victory roll in front.
Jacksen had mentioned how he loved yesterday’s band t-shirt, and that he’d love to take her to a super kitschy tiki bar he thought she’d love. So she put it on and tucked it into a cheetah print pencil skirt paired with sky high red patent pumps to complete the rockabilly look she thinks will go so well with tacky tiki.
“I can’t believe you two moved right down the street, I thought I was the only one left in Malibu,” she hears Jacksen exclaim to Alexis as she bounds down the stairs and rounds the corner.
“Couldn’t help it! I mean yes, the commute sucks, but the view…”
“It’s worth it,” Aura agrees as she enters the room, rubbing a hand on Alexis’ back as a thank you. Alexis beams back at her and Aura swears her roomie is trying her hand at best friend telepathy, trying to send her the, ‘You were right, this one’s definitely it!’ message about Jacksen, and she just eats it up.
When he spots Aura, it’s like she’s too beautiful for him to form words. But when something shiny catches the corner of his eye, he points with a soft laugh and manages to muster, “What’s that?”
“Oh!” Aura laughs it off but blushes a bit. “Just something silly from my little punk rocker days,” she waves off the denim vest draped over their expansive white leather sectional, complete with studs, band patches, maybe even a safety pin or two. Ugh, I shouldn’t have even pulled it out, she groans to herself.
“No, it’s perfect. I mean, you already look perfect but, will you wear it? Please?” Jacksen’s green eyes go round, puppy-like, his mouth stretched to an adorable grin.
Aura stares at him dumbstruck with both eyebrows straining towards her hairline, but relaxes and nods after staring at h
is smile for a few too-long seconds. Alexis looks at them like they’re now both officially the weirdest people she’s had the strange, not-quite-pleasure of knowing.
Aura pulls on the teeny vest to complete her punk rockabilly vibe and leads him out the door. “Night babe!” she calls behind her and then turns to face Jacksen.
She can tell he’s trying to look cool, I mean, not really trying, it’s effortless for him, but his mouth is turned up on one corner and both eyebrows are arched, and she can tell she wore just the right outfit. She’d even thought about cowboy boots, Jacksen is from Texas, after all, but they didn’t quite go with this outfit and the whole ensemble was just screaming AURA! tonight, and since the goal is to find out who she is and just BE that, it seemed like the right choice.
Jacksen offers her an elbow which she takes, and he ushers them to his car, trying visibly not to stare at her and failing rather miserably. She can’t believe that she’s actually known him only a little over 24 hours, and yet knows, without a sip of anything that calls ‘Drink Me!’ that he is more into her, and treating her better than any of the guys before.
He opens the passenger door of his car for her and she doesn’t get in, just stares until she realizes her mouth has been hanging open for far too long, “Are you kidding? An E type roadster? How come you didn’t-”
“I didn’t want to sound too LA, Aura,” he laughs, helping her in the car.
“You mean brag? This, you can definitely brag about this, Jacksen,” she croons, fingers hovering over the dashboard in admiration.
“I did kind of want to tell you yesterday when I walked you to your car, but I didn’t want to be like, ‘Oh yeah? Well I’ve got a 66 Jag.’” He chuckles, “I am an asshole, though, because I had this new stereo put in with Bluetooth and all that. Complete asshole.”
“Okay, now that is very LA,” She laughs. “Speaking of the city, where are we going again? After the tiki place, I mean.”
He glances over at her and then fixes his eyes back on the road as he starts down the hill “Did I tell you how amazing you look tonight?” he asks.
